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How can you contend that you were the victim of the right-wing "smear machine"? You weren't "smeared"--a term that implies that lies were circulated about you--you had your words publicized and thrown back at you.
Blogs are great, the internet is great, but you seem to suffer from a malady that infects a huge percentage of internet critics, pundits, and bloggers: uncivil diarrhea of the mouth. For some reason, people will type out all sorts of offensive garbage they wouldn't dare to say out loud in polite company. You know it, I know it. Bloggers both left and right have this unfortunate tendency, but it's pretty sad when a prominent blogger steps back with such a pathetic excuse: "Just kidding! I was being sarcastic. Witty. Get it?" Um, no. Sorry, but we can't see the wry smile on your face or your eyes rolling back sarcastically as you type. All we have are your words, so don't act surprised when people point out that the words are offensive on their face.
As for the right-wing attacks, so what? Did you expect any less? You couldn't possibly have been that naive, so spare us the victimization bit. You remind me of Michelle Malkin every time she complains about the sexist, racist, hate-filled mail she gets--Yeah, so what? She writes strong opinions using strong, sometimes vitriolic language (just like you!), and the world is filled with jerks behind keyboards. Get used to it or moderate your language/opinions.
Finally, I wanted to address this bit:
"What I also failed to understand was how much McEwan and I would stick out. I was aware that I didn't exactly fit the image people have of bloggers who join campaigns -- the stereotype being 30-something nerdy young white men who wear khakis and obsess over crafting their Act Blue lists. I wasn't aware that not fitting the image would attract so much negative attention. In fact, I mostly saw this all as a baby step in the direction of diversity, since McEwan and I differed from the stereotype mostly by being female and by being outspoken feminists. "
Huh? How many popular political bloggers are 30-something nerdy white men? That wasn't my impression at all. There are loads of popular female bloggers, as well older, non-white, or non-nerdy bloggers. Actually, I have no idea what half the bloggers I read look like. Again, it's all about the ideas and words--I doubt that most blog readers care what the bloggers look like, because it's a written medium. Seriously, I doubt that most objections to your work have anything to do with your gender, race, or age. It would have read just as offensively coming from an old Asian hipster guy.
